Short Exposures: September 24

Panasonic and Leica renew their vows…
Panasonic and Leica have extended their partnership in digital cameras for another five years, until 2019.

The agreement will see the continued use of Leica’s trademark and lenses on Panasonic’s digital cameras, while ‘Leica will be able through the expansion and strengthening of technological cooperation to utilise Panasonic’s digital technology in its own product development’. (Abridged version: re-badge some Panasonic cameras as Leicas and sell them at higher prices, as with the newly-announced Lumix LX100 and its posher cousin, the Leica D-Lux.)

The companies have been co-operating in digital cameras since 2001.

Blown away…

Well, yes, I guess so.

You may never have considered the similarities between a blower brush and a hand grenade, but luckily there are people out there alert to these things. A British photographer has had his lens-cleaning air blower confiscated by airport security staff at Manchester Airport because it resembled a hand grenade.

Noel Patterson, a sports photographer from Derbyshire, told Amateur Photographer that when his camera bag was scanned the blower revealed its similarity to an explosive device.

‘The guard went to the supervisor to check and then said that any object that could be held up and look like a grenade was prohibited – even though everyone obviously knew it wasn’t,’ he said.

‘I had the option of going back through security and posting it back home. Otherwise, it would be confiscated – which was the only practical choice.’

A Manchester Airport spokesperson said that ‘items that could potentially look threatening’ like cigarette lighters shaped like guns, non-foldable umbrellas (and rubber blower brushes) ‘will more than likely be confiscated in line with current regulations.’

Bigging things up
Ricoh France has posted on its Facebook page that the oft-repeated rumour of a full-frame Pentax camera is, in fact, vrai. It’s scheduled for 2015 release.

One interesting aspect here is that the new camera isn’t described as a DSLR. Could be a CSC, could even be a full-frame compact. But the otherwise well-regarded Pentax DSLR range could definitely use a full-frame model….

The 6560×3102 Arri Alexa 65 cine camera.

…’That’s not a full-frame camera, this is a full-frame camera’, Arri might respond, having just announced the Alexa 65, a cine camera with a 54mm x 26mm sensor and a maximum resolution of 6560 x 3102 pixels. This A3X CMOS sensor made up of three Alexa sensors ‘seamlessly’ (always seamlessly) stitched together. It delivers over 14 stops of dynamic range. A still grabbed from video footage would be over 20-megapixels.

Arri says this camera is 6.5K, as compared to the few 4K cameras currently on the market.

One thought on “Short Exposures: September 24”

Two top performers in Arri and Pentax, Both go back a log way and have proud history.
I would love to see a comparison story between the top lines of Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Leica but I suppose that such an article could be harmful to you as your supporters may remove some brownie points.
Personally I use a Leica V lux 20 and as a doting grand parent it does all I want. My sons keep at me to upgrade but I have felt no need.
Ron Frank

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